Major Sleaford employer expresses concerns about impact on business if UK pulls out of EU

Janet McCollum, Moy Park CEO. EMN-160615-112029001

Published:11:35Wednesday 15 June 2016

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As the EU referendum on June 23 approaches, top UK food company and major local employer in the Sleaford area, Moy Park, has stated its strong support for the UK remaining in the EU, claiming it gives businesses greater certainty about the future.

Moy Park employs hundreds of local people, as well as many who have migrated from other parts of the EU for work at its poultry processing plants at Anwick and Grantham as well as in its poultry rearing sites around the county. It is one of the UK’s and Europe’s leading agri-food companies employing 12,000 people in Northern Ireland, England, France, Holland and the Republic of Ireland.

Moy Park’s chief executive Janet McCollum said: “We are a European business and Europe is our market – and we are strongly in favour of the UK remaining within the EU.

“Remaining in the EU gives businesses greater certainty about the future. Within the EU, we have open access to 27 markets and 500 million consumers. In the event of a Brexit, no-one has been able to guarantee our continued access to those markets. Any move away from the free market in which we currently operate could increase tariffs, add administrative burdens and limit export opportunities.”

The £1.4 billion turnover company cites uncertainties around market access, access to new labour, cross-border trade and the potential impact on the farming community as “compelling reasons” why the company is in favour of remaining in the EU.

“The EU has imperfections but it is a massive market which offers export security and it is our view that the UK should remain within it,” Ms McCollum concluded.